10 Myths Men Believe About Menopause

HE SAYS
All women lose interest in sex while they're in menopause.

SHE SAYS
Have I got news for you! Sexual researchers Masters and Johnson found that libido is not linked to estrogen levels and thus does not automatically crash during menopause. Furthermore, at least 50 percent of women in the change report no drop in sexual interest. Fewer than 20 percent report any marked lack of interest. So don't be surprised if your woman is just as amorous during menopause as she was before.

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HE SAYS
Menopause always causes weight gain.

SHE SAYS
You sound like the diet police! This weight gain myth is so annoying. For the record, just as it is impossible to generalize about hot flashes--some women simply never get them in menopause -- it is also true that some women never gain weight during menopause. And, while some women may gain weight during menopause, others lose it.

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HE SAYS
A woman's menopausal hysteria is in direct proportion to the neuroses she suffered from when she was pre-menopausal.

SHE SAYS
WRONGO, pal. To assume that a woman will be hysterical in menopause simply because you believe she was neurotic beforehand is unwarranted and misguided. It's a fact that for some women, menopause can be relatively placid in the emotional arena. FYI, major factors influencing a woman's emotional and physical passage through the change of life include:

• Personal health and childbearing history
• Health of female ancestors and living female relatives
• Past dietary habits and present diet
• Past and present tobacco use
• Past and present alcohol use
• Self-esteem
• Culture (If you don't believe this, consider the fact that in the United States, about 46 percent of menopausal women try hormone replacement therapy (HRT), while in Japan, only 6 percent do.)

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HE SAYS
All women experience menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia, depression, etc., for years on end.

SHE SAYS
Have I got news for you! Research indicates that 15 percent of women are symptom-free at menopause. That's right: symptom-free. FYI, experts note that while some women simply stop menstruating and have no symptoms whatsoever...85 percent will experience hot flashes.

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HE SAYS
Menopause invariably occurs at age 50.

SHE SAYS
Wake up and smell the coffee, darling. Age 50 is not the only age during which women undergo the change. Statistics indicate that approximately one in a hundred women goes through menopause at age 40 or younger. The average age of menopause is currently about 52, however, with an average age span from 45 to 55.

It should be noted that early menopause can occur as a result of surgery. Surgically induced menopause is also referred to as artificial menopause. For example, when a woman has a hysterectomy or uterine removal with ovarian removal; this is artificial menopause. According to some experts, early menopause can also be caused by various factors, such as an autoimmune disorder related to poor nutrition or chronic stress resulting in the production of anti-ovarian antibodies.

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HE SAYS
Menopause lasts a few years.

SHE SAYS
Well, that's what you think. As it happens, menopause lasts for six to 13 years.

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HE SAYS
Women can cure themselves during menopause by opting for estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) or other forms of hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

SHE SAYS
Spare me the generalizations. First of all, menopause is a natural process and not a disease, so a "cure" is unnecessary. Second, women's hormone levels vary greatly. Different women need different hormones, and in fact, some women definitely do not need estrogen! In fact, some need testosterone or DHEA, hormones that are found in men, as well. Women's hormone levels can also fluctuate greatly during menopause and thus may need to vary their hormone therapy throughout the change. There are also instances when hormonal replacement therapies simply have no effect on some women.

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HE SAYS
The only effective treatment option for menopausal symptoms is prescription hormone replacement therapy.

SHE SAYS
I hate to suggest that you're rather clueless (again!) but you are. Listen, as any ob/gyn in the know will tell you, there's a massive constellation of plant-based and other natural menopausal treatments for hot flashes, vaginal dryness, irritation and thinning and osteoporosis. These include:

• Fifty grams of soy protein a day, or one-fifth of an average block of tofu, has been proven to decrease the intensity of hot flashes. Soy foods are rich in phytoestrogens and isoflavones, which decrease menopausal symptoms and balance estrogen levels.

  Phytoestrogens are also highly concentrated in cashews, peanuts, oats, corn, wheat, apples and almonds. Phytoestrogens appear to block the effects of excess estrogen stimulation of the breasts and uterus; many researchers believe that they have a protective action. Many researchers believe that Japanese women have a lower incidence of hot flashes and other symptoms because of their soy-based diets.

  Another reason to eat soy: eating soy foods for protein rather than animal foods can help bone health. (An excess of animal protein can hinder calcium absorption.)

• Acupuncture and Chinese herbs have been used for more than 3,000 years to treat menopausal symptoms. While acupuncture can help ameliorate symptoms such as insomnia, night sweats and mood swings, Chinese herbs are used by Chinese medical doctors and Western physicians to rectify various menopausal symptoms. There are many mail order sources for Chinese herbal menopausal formulae. While large-scale trials have yet to be done on these, Western medical doctors and Chinese doctors nevertheless prescribe these for their patients.

  Some experts recommend Joyful Change, a Chinese herbal formula that helps alleviate hot flashes, night sweats, low back pain, hot palms and soles of feet, constipation and breakthrough bleeding." To order, contact Quality Life Herbs at (207) 842-4929. Transitions for Women, a division of Transitions for Health, offers a menopausal health formula consisting of dong quai, licorice root, burdock, motherwort and wild yam. This formula has been clinically tested. To order, call (800) 888-6814.

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HE SAYS
Menopause is a woman's health problem in every society around the world.

SHE SAYS
Believe it or not, world traveler, the anthropological record indicates you are misinformed. Some cultures, such as traditional Navahos, exhibited and reported few symptoms of menopause. Moreover, socioeconomic status was strongly correlated to menopausal women's experience of symptoms. This study indicates that psychological factors, rather than physical ones, may strongly determine menopausal symptoms. In addition, a study of !Kung women (! represents a tongue click) in southern Africa found that there is no word for "hot flash" in the !Kung language. Perhaps !Kung women never experience hot flashes, or, if they do, perhaps they enjoy them and feel them to be a positive occurrence. It's also worth noting that the social status of !Kung women increases after menopause. Their elevated social role may also partially explain the absence of hot flash lingo.

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HE SAYS
Women lose significant amounts of brain tissue during menopause, causing some of them to lose their memories or go mildly insane.

SHE SAYS
This is complete and total mythomania. Although menopause can cause mood swings, it does not cause insanity. What's more, at about age 30, both male and female brains start to shrink measurably. As Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., explains in "Brain Longevity" (Warner Books, 1999), degree of brain shrinkage does not correspond exactly to the same degree of cognitive decline. "If your brain shrinks by 10 percent," he writes, "you won't necessarily suffer a 10-percent decline in intelligence. Instead, you might suffer only a 1 percent decline in cognitive ability, because the plasticity of your brain allows you to make new synaptic connections."

Dr. Khalsa goes on to explain that for unknown reasons, MEN LOSE BRAIN TISSUE SIGNIFICANTLY FASTER THAN WOMEN. "By midlife, the brains of males -- which are larger than female brains early in life -- generally shrink to about the same size as female brains..." Go figure!

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